Dio Brandos' World
Part 2
For a while, all Dio could hear was the unrelenting crashing of wave after wave, mercilessly dragging his refugio out into the vast ocean. His secret compartment being sealed shut, the only sensations his hightened senses could perceive were the musty smell of his hideout, the claustrophobic darkness of its inside as well as the muffled sounds of distant explosions and screams, growing more and more silent with every passing second. That, and the ever so close sounds of three heartbeats, right above him and yet seemingly out of reach. By now, he had recognized his unwanted passengers as one pregnant women carrying another child in her arms. So close were they and so rich with life, Dio yearned for nothing more than to sink his nails into their throats, sucking the precious blood into his battered body, and yet, despite his overwhelming efforts, his treacherous arms still denied him their service.
He clenched his teeth, trying desperately just to move a finger. He knew it was still nighttime, but from inside his coffin, he couldn't possibly tell when the lethal sun was going to rise. If only he could reach the victims above him, he knew he could amass enough strenght to make it ashore.
'Is this your doing, Jojo?' he thought to himself, eyes peering vengefully into the dark.
'Your last humiliation from inside the grave? It will prove useless, Jojo. Useless, Useless!'
But with every passing minute, his efforts to move grew more futile, while his concern grew into outright panic. If he couldn't get to them in time, if he lost track of what time of day it was- He did not dare to imagine the consequences.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when suddenly, he heard the woman above him move. Carefully, ever so slowly, but she was obviously awake. He heard her breathing, caressing the newborn child in her arms.
„There, there.", he heard her softly speaking to the child, but her following words were washed aside by Dio's realization as he recognized the voice of this women.
'Erina.', the realization sunk in, and with that only vanished the mystery of why his new body wouldn't obey him.
'Jojo...truly an admirable effort, as expected of a man such as yourself.' Dio's face turned into a grimace of grudging respect. 'Not only have you protected your wife from my minions, but now, in your last act of defiance, you are trying to keep her safe even in death. But your conviction is for naught, Jojo!'
He gritted his teeth, focusing every bit of his mind into moving Jonathan's body just an inch, as he could feel the remaining will of his nemesis resisting with equal strenght, clutching at every muscle with the same tenacity he wielded in his lifetime. He tried dragging his veins out of Jonathan's throat, but they were stuck in place as his body refused to let them go.
„Curse you, Jojo." Dio gnarled silently to himself, the only movement which was still possible to him.
As the invisible struggle continued, a new noise interrupted the constant crashing of the waves. The earpiercingly loud, deep blaring of a nearby ship. Erina hastily opened the lid, shouting frantically at her unexpected saviours. Meanwhile, fear crept it's way into Dio's mind once again. If it were nighttime, he could simply wait to be rescued and feed from the crew at his leisure. But if they were to open his secret compartment in daytime, then his, Dio's, existence would vanish in the sunlight, a strange footnote to history at best, his life flickered out like a candle's flame in a wild storm.
„This will not be the fate of me, Dio." he assured himself.
„I have survived impalement, cremation and my own beheading. I will not fall victim to a cruel whim of fate!"
But as he reminded himself of his past struggles, he could hear yet another thing which filled his heart with raw dread. With every passing wave, the upper compartment filled with water more and more. If it were to fill up completely, his refugio would turn into an unescapable prison, trapping him under the unrelinquishing weight of the sea.
„This will not be my fate!" he said to himself once again, taking up the fight against his new body with the despair and tenacity of a cornered animal. Rather would he take his chances with daylight than to be locked away under the ocean, doomed to starve and die a lonely, obscured death. His arms started to twitch ever so slightly as he pushed against the unrelenting willpower of Jonathan Joestar.
„Give it up already, Jonathan! I, Dio, have been fighting for my life ever since I was born. I will not be held back by a snobby brat such as yourself!"
He could hear a rowboat slowly approaching his refuge, causing him to increase his efforts even further. Had they decided to bring the entire coffin aboard, he could've simply waited them out, but the approaching of the boat meant that they would safe Erina and the child, leaving him behind.
Panicking, struggling with every fiber of his being, Dio could only listen in shock as Erina got picked up by the new arrivals, leaving him alone in his coffin which was filling up more with each passing second. He heard Erina climbing aboard the rowboat, and a muffled „Thank you...thank you so much..." before his sanctuary started to sink downwards, leaving the voices as muffled, distant sounds. Only now did his body loosen up, with Erina at a safe distance, as Dio could do nothing but to scratch at the surface of his now inescapable prison, screaming and yelling curses that no one but him could hear. The dull silence only grew more claustrophobic as he ascended deeper and deeper into the water, his voice only thrown back at him.
„Get me out! Release me, you imbeciles! Erina! I know you won't leave me to die, just as Jojo wouldn't! Answer me, women!"
His imprecations turned into spiteful, incoherent ramblings.
„Damn you, Jojo!" he repeated over and over, clawing against his prison with weak, disobedient arms.
„Damn you, Jojo! Curse you, curse you and Erina both! Damn you!" Nobody answered as darkness enveloped him.
